Saturday, November 12, 2005

Bittorrent: Share The Wealth!

It's pretty amazing what you can do without even trying.

For example, I was looking at Azureus today--it's running all the time, I don't even notice it unless I am trying to use VPN and then I need to pause it, other then that I don't even think about it. Anyway, I was looking at the Azureus stats for the torrents I am seeding and saw something interesting. Without doing a thing, I have "given away":

Those are my share ratios. That is nearly 43GB of software uploaded. Now I'm not pointing this out to brag or anything pointless like that at all. I was just thinking how cool this technology is, how useful. Remember when you had to get your Linux ISOs via FTP. It would take forever, maybe even days, even with broadband to get the latest greatest distro--but we were happy the resources were their, thankful for those mirrors indeed! Without the mirrors I seriously doubt GNU/Linux and all the other innovative FOSS (Free/Open Source Software) projects would have advanced as rapidly as they have. Today, we not only get to download super-large files like ISOs much faster, but with BitTorrent we get to share the wealth when we seed the torrent--no longer draining & straining resources but actually becoming a resource for others. I think this opportunity strengthens free software even further.

Of course, as always, there are those among us who abuse the rights of others and create torrents that distribute materials when they have no right to do so. I'm certain when the MPAA folks hear the word 'bittorrent' they immediately have images flashing through their collective minds of movies being distributed far & wide across the internet at blazing speeds... before they even hit the theatres! I am not surprised that they fight these new P2P technologies tooth & nail. I don't agree with their methods, but I understand their motives.

I'll tell you exactly what my position is on this problem. You guys (you know who you are) who post/join pirate torrents or P2P shares of non-redistributable copyrighted software, movies, music whatever: YOU are the ones who are ruining it for the rest of us! Don't you get that? You may think you're "sticking it to the man", but you're hurting the rest of us in the process! It is utterly aggravating!

I may not agree with current copyright law but that doesn't give me the right to break it. Bittorrent is an awesome technology for all of us. One of many, but it is viewed in some circles as simply a tool for criminals. I don't enjoy it when the existence of technologies that I find useful (for perfectly legal activities) are becoming threatened because they get branded as 'evil'. It just gives (for example) people like the Sony execs an illegitimate excuse to add spy/malware to audio CDs. And, it gives other companies & legislators the impetus to call for more control over what WE can do with the products WE bought and WE own. They don't need any encouragement. So stop!

If you like a movie you saw, don't be so freakin' cheap, buy a copy! If you like some music you heard when you were driving down the road, buy the CD or hit iTunes and buy the songs you want. Whatever it takes. Please stop ruining it for the rest of us.

Sorry for the rant but I just don't think a lot of people care about these issues because they don't feel the negative & chilling impact they have on innovation. They may think they are not hurting anyone by downloading a few thousand of song--but in the end the media moguls will fight back and slowly & insidiously what we can do with the products we paid good money for, products we own (i.e. our computers, TVs, DVRs, etc.) is going to become more & more limited. Eventually to the point that they become useless to us (all the while being billed as the latest & greatest in tech) or we will become desensitized to the point that we just think, "that's just the way it is", and the way it should be. That will be a sad day. How lame will it be to say to your kids or grandkids, "I remember when we could buy music and listen to it as many times as we wanted. These media subscription fees today are putting me in the poor house..."

News flash, there really is more to life then movies and music put out by the giant media companies. Honest...

So do something useful with the technology we have. Share the wealth of Free/Open Source Software, and Creative Commons-type licensed redistributable media via P2P & Bittorrent. We will ALL benefit and just maybe we can keep playing with our toys the way we want to and not how some mega-media-funded legislator tells us to.

6 comments:

Anonymous
said...

if i act just like the music industry, downloading is the only option that makes sense. they are all about profit. like wise i should act the same. why would i pay out extra when i can get it for free. if i had stockholders, i am sure they would be pissed if they found out i was paying for what i could get for free.

...if i had stockholders, i am sure they would be pissed if they found out i was paying for what i could get for free.

And, they would be doubly upset when you lost the company for theft, wouldn't they?

You're not getting anything for free when you steal via P2P. You're simply not getting caught in the act... yet.

My point is so simple, using this revolutionary technology (bittorrent) for infringing purposes adds fuel to the fire of those who want to gain more & more control over what WE can do with the things WE legitimately own.

Dude, cinemas are not nice places to go. I went to see Saw II the other day with my friend. After 2 hours of sitting in an uncomfortable chair with a screen at a funny angle, not being able to comment on the film and paying inflated prices for food, I regretted paying £5 to see the movie. I wish I'd done what any sane person would do, and downloaded a copy I can watch on my bigscreen plasma with excellent quality floorstanders. I'd have been able to smoke, have a cuppa, eat some pringles and go to the loo.

The day I can get paid movie downloads is the day I stop warezing films.

The day I can get paid movie downloads is the day I stop warezing films.

I think eventually things will even out between extremes--the free-for-all wholesale downloaders of infringing materials & the mega-media power-grabbers of consumer rights. In the meantime it's just going to get uglier between the two opposing forces--with the rest of us stuck in the middle! LOL

BTW, doesn't cable and/or satellite TV offer movies on-demand? I dunno, I don't have either but it seems like I hear it advertised as an incentive to sign up...

I know it is not a popular position to take to say stop messing it up for the rest of us, but at least I'm clearly not on either side. I think the RIAA/MPAA are luddites who've missed the boat on how we ALL could benefit from P2P technologies, and I also think that freeloading movies off of the 'net just gives them an excuse to try to grab more of our rights from us.

I like the fact that there is a dialog on these issues. Hopefully we can all "just get along" one of these days...

With regard to your comments about people using BitTorrent for piracy 'ruining it for the rest of us' - I disagree. I can see how BitTorrent is getting a bad name because of its use in piracy, but to be honest, how will that affect your use of it to efficiently distribute FOSS and Creative Commons media?All the MPAA/RIAA etc can do is shut down individual trackers and BitTorrent piracy websites. They can't shut down BitTorrent completely, because it's an open-spec, open-source network, not a centralized website saying "get your pirated stuff here".

And on a slightly off-topic note.. I just wrote a blog entry on a newcomer to the BitTorrent client scene. I assume you have a really powerful PC to be seeding with Azureus for that long - but you might want to look at this client anyway. It's really resource friendly and offers almost all the features of Azureus (and, it's freeware - although not open-source). Sorry for the shameless blog promotion ;)

With regard to your comments about people using BitTorrent for piracy 'ruining it for the rest of us' - I disagree. I can see how BitTorrent is getting a bad name because of its use in piracy, but to be honest, how will that affect your use of it to efficiently distribute FOSS and Creative Commons media?All the MPAA/RIAA etc can do is shut down individual trackers and BitTorrent piracy websites. They can't shut down BitTorrent completely, because it's an open-spec, open-source network, not a centralized website saying "get your pirated stuff here".

Simple, they will fund legislation to make all bittorrent seeding illegal or some such nonsense.

And on a slightly off-topic note.. I just wrote a blog entry on a newcomer to the BitTorrent client scene... Sorry for the shameless blog promotion ;)

No problem, I will be happy to check it out. Does it do magnet links? That's one of the big pluses in my book for using Azureus.